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12.15.2012

Wrapping & Gift Idea | DIY

As I mentioned in this post, everyday until Christmas I will be making something each day. First, I made this Mark Twain art piece for my boyfriend for Christmas. I found the idea from instagram and altered it a bit. First, I took pieces of wood and secured them together with two thin pieces on the back. Then, I printed out an 18x24 in. print from Kinkos in black & white for $2 (Thanks for the info on printing, Elsie)...I ended up messing it up the first time because the print bubbled and wrinkled due to the modge podge. So I printed it out in color which was $12 so I couldn't mess up this time. Plus, the book cover looked so much better in color. I measured out the pieces of wood and cut the paper with an x-acto knife. On the right you can see how it isn't perfectly cut to size but it adds character, right? I'm no perfectionist. After the pieces were cut and a little trial and error I lightly painted on modge podge and let it dry for a minute, then starting at the top pressed the paper down in little sections (instead of putting the whole piece on at once).

I loved this method of putting a printing on wood and will probably do it with black and white pictures soon. It is a very inexpensive gift if you have scrap wood and $2 for a print!

My next project was wrapping the gift. I had kraft paper handy and I am a huge fan of white paint on brown kraft paper so I measured how much I needed and cut the paper. Then, I cut slits of peel and stick foam and proceeded to cut slits down both sides. After all the slits were cut I stuck them on a rolling pin and painted the foam with white paint. I laid the paper out and rolled away! This is a very quick way of printing! My goal was for the paper to look like birch trees, after painting on a few branches by hand I believe the print resembled birch trees. I let the paper dry and made a matching card.

Hello! I'm Courtney. On Always Rooney, you'll find DIY projects, home decor updates and Etsy business tips. I hope you are encouraged to create while you are here. Thanks for stopping by. You can always get to know me more on my about page.